


A Larger Matter

by TheSovereigntyofReality



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Consequences, Gen, Moderated, Not Peggy Friendly, Team Stark, inspired by comments, steve's blood, teenaged Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 08:52:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/pseuds/TheSovereigntyofReality
Summary: When Peggy Carter tipped out Steve's blood, she had no idea the hornet's nest she just kicked.





	A Larger Matter

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.**

Ever since Tony was a little boy, his father had warned him that Jarvis was susceptible to a charismatic personality.

As a child, Tony hadn’t been sure what to make of this. When he actually came to understand what a charismatic personality was, though, he began to understand it. Then, one day, when he was 12, his father sat him down and told him a story. It wasn’t a nice story but it was a story that Tony had needed to hear to understand – especially with who his father told him was coming back to America soon.

***

 **1946**  
‘She did what?’ Howard asked in a flat tone.

‘Well, to be fair, sir,’ Jarvis said, ‘she had that right.’

Howard cocked an eyebrow. ‘How? She wasn’t his wife. Wasn’t a relative. She had no right to the blood and no right to decide what to do with it.’

‘And you did, sir?’

‘I was the last head scientist involved in Project Rebirth, Jarvis. Do you understand what that means?’

Jarvis looked startled.

Howard shook his head. ‘Right. You know what you’re going to do now. You’re going to head to the mansion in Washington DC and clean it top to bottom.’

‘Sir, you haven’t been there in all the time I’ve been in your employ.’

‘Right.’

Jarvis got a sinking feeling.

***

Howard Stark had advised Eugene Barry to wear sunglasses when they went to the press conference.

Dr. Barry immediately regretted ignoring his advice. The camera flashes were blinding. It seemed the sunglasses were not a genius’s eccentricity, but the pragmatism of a man well-used to what happened at a press conference. His anger at the whole thing, though, was enough to keep his reactions down to a minimum. This had been a top secret government-funded project, ruined by a single woman. Which meant their funding had come from taxpayer dollars. In other words, Mr. Stark was merely informing the public as to why their hard-earned money had been wasted.

Mr. Stark waited until the camera flashes died down before he stepped up to the podium. ‘Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for coming. If you’ll hold your questions out until the end, I’ll explain why I called this press conference.’ He paused, most likely for dramatic effect. ‘During World War II, I was a part of Project Rebirth which created Captain America. What you may not know is that, prior to injection, Steven Grant Rogers suffered from asthma, colour-blindness, heart murmur, high blood pressure, chronic colds, and easy fatigability.’

No doubt he’d asked for Rogers’ medical record from Col. Phillips and memorised that.

‘Upon injection with the serum, he was instantly cured all of these maladies. After the war concluded, I, as the last living head scientist of Project Rebirth, was given all of the samples, which included a single vial of Captain America’s blood. I made a proposal to the US government, which was accepted. If we could use the blood to find a way to cure all sorts of illnesses in the common man. Steve Rogers may be gone, but he still could have saved millions of people.’

One of the reporters went to open their mouth. Mr. Stark held up a hand to silence him.

‘Due to the fact that this was a government project, we were using taxpayer dollars to pay for the research. However, due to the recent allegations brought against me, which, I will remind everyone, were proven false, I concealed the vial of blood in a shell designed to look like an ordinary bomb. One of the agents assigned to the case found out what it really was, and decided the appropriate course of action was to tip the blood into a river. The agent responsible for this is Margaret Carter, who is known among the halls of her federal agency as “Cap’s girl”.’

The room erupted into outraged cries and yells, questions and demands. Mr. Stark listened to all of this a moment before he raised his hands, silencing the journalists.

‘Dr. Eugene Barry,’ he gestured to Dr. Barry, ‘was the scientist in charge of the project. He will answer your questions on the project, which has now, unfortunately, been terminated with nothing to show for it.’

Man certainly knew how to incite public outrage.

***

Upon receiving no answer on calling Howard’s home, Peggy Carter stormed up to his office building. A man tried to stop her, so she punched him to the ground. She got in the lift and went right up to the top floor where she _knew_ Howard’s office was. This time, people seemed less inclined to stop her.

When she shoved the door open, she found Howard in front of his desk, leaning back against it. ‘You want something, Carter?’

‘What did you do?’ Peg demanded, slamming a newspaper onto his desk. The front page of the paper was demonising her for removing Steve’s blood from Howard’s and everyone else’s hands. It wasn’t just this one either. Every publication was painting her as a feeble over-emotional woman who’d cast aside millions in taxpayer dollars, and hope for the ill and infirm, for her own selfish reasons.

‘How is it my fault that you didn’t do your homework before getting on your high horse?’ Howard asked, walking around and sitting behind his desk. ‘That was a government-funded project – which means it came out of taxpayer dollars. I simply told them why their money went down the drain. They had the right to know that.’

Peg snapped her teeth together. It was true she hadn’t been aware that it was a government-approved and funded operation. Which only meant that Howard wasn’t using his own money to make a profit off of Steve’s blood and legacy. Turning the public against her for stopping him was both unnecessary and far more petty than she would have credited Howard for. ‘They needn’t have known at all!’

Howard gave her a long look. ‘Is that your justification? If they don’t know, it doesn’t matter? Out of sight, out of mind? What in hell do you think the United Nations are all about?’  
Peg didn’t understand what they had to do with it. She was vaguely aware of the United Nations, but mostly the criticisms towards them. They talked a big show about world peace but they were largely ineffectual. The most they’d done was release some charter for human rights. Peg had skimmed it. Still, it was clear what Howard was trying to do: distract.

‘Don’t change the subject!’ Peg snapped.

‘Who’s changing the subject?’ Howard asked. ‘World War II was caused by the settlement of World War I. As a consequence, this is the way the world works now. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the basis for law in all signatory nations. Or did you not notice how the senator who tried to get me convicted for treason was grilled and expelled from his seat? Know why that was?’

Peg drew back. She had noticed. After Howard had been proven innocent, the senator who’d been insisting he was guilty had been publically shamed, as she was now, and quickly expelled from office.

‘He violated Articles 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,’ Howard said. ‘See, when I was found to be innocent – I should probably thank you for that, so thank you – a thorough investigation was done of the investigation. I was entitled to a fair trial by an impartial tribunal – not by a senator who’d already decided I was guilty, which brings me to my next point: he assumed I was guilty from the get-go. I had the right to be presumed innocent until they proved me guilty, not the other way around. Sure, I couldn’t prove I was innocent at that point. But they couldn’t prove I was guilty either.’

Peg glared at him, trying to see what he was getting at.

Suddenly his door swung open and a group of armed police officers streamed in.

‘Then again,’ Howard said, leaning back and looking proud of himself, ‘the Declaration wasn’t officially adopted until 1948. My case was probably just one factor out of many in the decision.’

‘You did this on purpose!’ Peg hissed, because that was all she could do. She could try fighting, she supposed, but several of them had guns. Others had batons. She was sure they’d use the batons first, but she didn’t want to risk getting shot.

‘Of course I did. The police,’ he gestured to the uniformed officers around them, ‘were called the moment you knocked out that first guard. If you remember, Peg, you’re only here on a work visa. The nation’s already unhappy with you so I doubt it’ll survive this little temper tantrum of yours.’

‘Temper tantrum!’ Peg demanded, even as the officers moved closer.

‘The media trash-talks me all the time.’ Howard shrugged. ‘You don’t see me yelling at anyone.’ He nodded to one of the officers. ‘All yours, boys.’

The police officers converged on her.

***

 **1984**  
When Tony saw her, he stood in the corner of the room and studied her.

After she’d been arrested in his father’s office all those years ago, Peg had been deported back to England within the month. Tony had been raised to understand the power of public opinion, especially if someone wasn’t born on American soil and enraged the American populace. Carter had been banned from the country for years. Only recently had that time expired.

And she was already back, demanding to see Howard.

Tony could see Jarvis starting to stammer through an answer. He had no idea what the man’s opinion on her was now but he was clearly already being overwhelmed. Tony pushed off from the wall. ‘I’m afraid my father’s busy right now.’

Peggy Carter spun around, and did a double take. ‘ _Father_?’ she demanded, almost in a squawk.

Jarvis cleared his throat. ‘Miss Carter, may I introduce Anthony Edward Stark.’

‘Tony.’ He gave her a shit-eating grin.

Carter stared at him a moment before she seemed to compose herself. ‘I’m sure your father’s busy, but I have rather urgent business to bring to him. Now, why don’t you—’  
The condescending tone. Tony heard it all the time. It was the curse of being a child prodigy – and she didn’t even know how smart he was. People only saw your age and quickly dismissed you. But Tony had been raised by Howard (“they let smarter people do the work and then steal it for themselves”) and Maria (“some people will always try to tear down those they feel envious of”) Stark.

‘Miss Carter, my father runs a multi-million dollar armaments company.’ Tony cut her off. ‘If you want to speak to him, make an appointment.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Remember what happened the last time you tried to force your way in?’

Carter looked like she’d been slapped. ‘Now, see here, young man—!’

He cut her off again, this time by addressing Jarvis. ‘Jarvis, why is she in here? Why did you let her in here? You know she’s not welcome in this house.’

Jarvis cleared his throat. ‘She...didn’t exactly wait for an invitation.’

‘Dear God.’ Tony walked over and picked up the phone. ‘You really don’t learn, do you?’

Carter lurched forward to stop Tony from making the phone call.

...And learned the hard way that Jarvis had developed a set of reflexes designed to protect the Stark Industries heir.

Peggy Carter was deported and banned from the country again less than a week later – permanently this time.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was prompted by Kuramas_Kat in the comments section of Chapter 9 of Break a Bad Habit.
> 
> In this, S.H.I.E.L.D. was never founded because of the break in the relationship between Howard and Peg. Howard _actually_ moved on with his life.


End file.
